Florida Secretly Shortened Yellow Light Times To Bust More Drivers With Red-Light Cameras

Remember when you got popped with that red light camera ticket last month and then ranted to anyone who'd listen about how it was all a giant conspiracy? "The yellow is too short!" you shrieked, waving your ticket in the air as everyone laughed. "They did it on purpose!"

Well, you don't look so crazy this morning. A Tampa TV station has found that FDOT subtly reworded state law two years ago to give cities wiggle room to shorten their yellow lights -- all so they could catch more drivers in red light camera traps.

The investigation by WTSP began after they found a dangerously short yellow light near Tampa at an intersection that also happened to house a red light camera.

When they started digging into the state rules behind the cameras -- which generate more than $100 million for Florida cities -- they found something curious.

Until 2011, state law mandated that the length of yellow lights be based on a formula that considers either the road's speed limit or a percentage of the average car speed -- whichever is greater.

But that year, FDOT quietly removed the last part -- whichever is greater. The result was that cities could base their yellow times on arbitrary speed limits, which often have little to do with how fast cars are actually driving in an area.

FDOT says the move was meant to "clean up" its regulatory language, but the change goes directly against federal safety suggestions, which note that basing yellow times on speed limits results "in more red light violations and higher crash rates."

It's that first part of the warning that probably interests local cities. Sure, skimping on yellow light times might results in a few more cars slamming into each other every year -- but think of the extra red-light camera revenue!